HoUinger Corp. 
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Thirteenth Series, No, 3 October 8, 1921 

tTeacfiersi College bulletin 




EDUCATIVE EQUIPMENT FpR 
RURAL SCHOOLS 

By 

Fannie Wyche Dunn, Ph.D. 

Instructor in Rural Education, Teachers College 



Price 2^ cents 



Published by 

i!Deacfier)S CoUesc Columbia tSfnifacrsitp 

525 West 1 20th Street 
New York City 



Monograph 



tKeacfjers; CoUejjc pullttin 

Thirteenth Series, No. 3 October 8, 1921 

Published twelve times a year: Fortnightly in September, October, and May, 
and monthly from November to April, inclusive. Entered as second-class mat- 
ter January 15, 1910, at the Post Office, New York, N. Y., under Act of 
August 24, 1912. 

Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 
1103, Act of October 3, 1917. authorized. 



Copyright, 1921, by Teachers College 



my 25 (9?i 






^\ 

EDUCATIVE EQUIPMENT FOR 
RURAL SCHOOLS* 

It has been said that a child learns more in the first seven years 
of his life than in all the rest of it. What he learns in these early 
years is practically all through his unceasing activities. The little 
child is always busy about something. It is reasonable to believe 
that within the school, as well as without it, children should be 
busy doing, and learning by doing. 

If this is to be the case, there must be available in the school 
something with which to do — books to read, pictures to look at, 
tools and raw materials for purposes of construction. Attention 
is called to the fact that such equipment is especially necessary in 
small country schools. Whereas the teacher in the city school can 
give all her time and attention to one grade, the country teacher 
must divide the six hours of her school day among all the grades 
from first through eighth. Usually no class in such a school re- 
ceives more than an hour and a half of the teacher's time in the 
course of the day, and all too frequently the first grade children 
get less than this. If they are to make progress at all commensurate 
with that of children in larger schools, there must be some means 
of education for them other than the actual instruction which the 
teacher has time to give. And this means of education, especially 
for the younger children, must be something else than studying les- 
sons from books, for little children cannot yet read well enough to 
learn from books, and they have not yet learned to hold their atten- 
tion long on set tasks not interesting in themselves. But they are 
running over with energy and are experienced and able in learning 
through activities of many kinds, and means for such educational 
activity should be provided for them. 

In general a child at home or in school may be educationally 
active in one of five ways. 

*AcKNOWLEDGEMENTS. Thanks are due and are gratefully extended to Professor 
Annie E. Moore, Miss Grace Brown, and Miss Sara Patrick, of Teachers College, and 
t3 students in my supervision courses, for much help in compiling the material of this 
bulletin. 



4 TEACHERS COLLEGE BULLETIN 

1. He may be "making something," working out an idea; con- 
structing something which until he makes it exists only in his mind, 
in his imagination. This necessitates materials such as wood, paper, 
clay, or metal, and tools, such as scissors, hammer, nails, etc. 
The working out of an idea may take a slightly different form. It 
may be "just playing" instead of "making something." A child or a 
group of children work out their ideas of a store in '"playing store," 
their ideas of the family in "playing house," etc. Dramatization is 
thus a form of construction as truly as making a box. It needs cer- 
tain simple equipment, though the child's power of make believe is 
so strong that this may be very simple, and yet very efficacious. 

2. He may be getting enjoyment from looking at pictures, or 
reading, or hearing music. This requires the provision of books or 
pictures or music to be enjoyed. 

3. He may be finding something out, observing or thinking or 
"studying" until he works out for himself the question he wants an- 
swered. This may necessitate such equipment as museum collec- 
tions, jars and pens in which insects or animals may be kept, a 
magnifying glass, or reference books within his power to use. 

4. He may be gaining some skill, as learning to handle scissors 
deftly, or making a freehand drawing, or adding rapidly, or learning 
to read. For these, tools to handle, books to read, pencil and paper 
with which to write and draw, and similar practice materials are 
essential. 

5. He may be playing games. To some extent this form of 
activity includes or involves all the others. As in "just playing," 
there is an element of construction; pure enjoyment is the strongest 
motive for engaging in games; often a game consists in working 
out some problem or puzzling situation; and frequently it involves 
skills. 

It is the purpose of this bulletin to suggest equipment that will 
stimulate and make possible activity that educates. Not all such 
equipment needs to be bought; much of it may be home made or 
home collected. 

There are advantages and disadvantages in each. The chief 
advantage of commercial material is that it saves the time of the 
busy teacher, an especially important consideration in multigraded 
schools. If a set of word cards can be bought for fifty cents, it is 
foolish for a teacher to spend three hours printing them by hand. 



RURAL SCHOOL EQUIPMENT 5 

Some commercial material, also, such as a few of the important 
tools, have no homemade or makeshift substitute that can take 
their place. 

Where equipment can be collected or made by the children in 
response to a feeling of need on their part, there is usually more 
educational value to be got out of the making or collecting than 
there would be from the buying. Expensive toy automobiles, for 
example, are nowhere near as valuable in developing a child's 
mind and character as those he makes for himself of scraps of tin 
and wood. From the latter, he gets exercise in independence, in- 
genuity, initiative, and many other worthwhile traits; from the 
former he gets only a painted toy. But with children as with 
teachers, the cost in time is sometimes out of all proportion to the 
educational value received. It would not, for example, be wise to 
force a child to make a pen-knife do the work of a saw. There is 
no mistake greater than the rather common idea that a child's time 
is of no value. Always, therefore, when a homemade substitute is 
considered for a piece of bought equipment, the important question 
is not, "How much money will be saved?" but, "Is the educational 
value from making it worth the time it costs?" 

In the following pages, desirable school equipment is classified 
under the general heads of Equipment Mainly for the Teacher's 
Use and Equipment Mainly for Children's Use. The latter is sub- 
divided into Materials for Construction, Materials for Enjoyment, 
Materials for Problem Solving, Materials for Gaining Skills, and 
Games. Under each of these heads are listed both materials that 
may be bought and home-found substitutes where substitutes are 
possible. 

EQUIPMENT MAINLY FOR TEACHERS' USE ^ 

Paper Cutter 

"The Monarch," No. 4362, 12 in. blade. $6.00. 
"The National," No. 4545, 18 in. blade. $18.00. 

Milton Bradley Co., New York City. 

1 For practically all of these there is no efficient homemade substitute. It is wasteful 
of the teacher's time to do without these helps. 

Addresses of firms are given the first time they are mentioned. 
Prices in this bulletin are only approximate. They were taken from catalogs at 
the date of this writing, but should always be verified from most recent catalogs when 
ordering. 



6 TEACHERS COLLEGE BULLETIN 

Eyelet Punch or Multiple Perforator. The latter is preferable. 

"Solidhed" Eyelet Punch. $1.50. Milton Bradley Co., or A. Flanagan Co., 
Chicago. 

Multiple Perforator No. i. Punches three sizes of holes. Milton Bradley Co., 
$4.00. 

Rubber Type Printing Outfit. Large, for charts. 

No. 3, Milton Bradley Co., height of letter 1)4". $4.50. 

No. C, A. Flanagan Co., height of letter ys"- $4-00. 

Others made by Fulton Specialty Co., 128-142 Fulton Street, Elizabeth, N. J. 

Hectograph 

io"x 12K" with ink. Milton Bradley Co. $3.00. 

Printing Pens 

Spoonbill Lettering Pens, Nos. 2, 3, and 5. ID cents each. Prang Co., New 
York City. 

Oak Tag. Or other tag board as jute tag, red tag, etc. 

100 sheets 9 x 12. 70 cents. 

Prang Co.; Henry Lindenmeyer &Sons, 18 Beekman St., N. Y. C; J. E. Linde, 
84 Beekman St., N. Y. C; Northwestern School Supply Co., Minneapolis, Minn. 

Mounts. For pictures. 

Lined pulp board No. 80. 320 mounts (13 x 17K) to a bundle. Sold in bundles 
or smaller lots. Very reasonably priced. Coy-Hunt Co., 4th Ave. and Lafayette 
St., N. Y. C. 

Other mount boards obtainable from Lindenmeyer and Sons and J. E. Linde. 

EQUIPMENT MAINLY FOR PUPILS' USE 

MATERIALS FOR CONSTRUCTION (COMMMERCIAL) 

Scissors 

5 in. Semirounded points. Screw rivet. Milton Bradley No. 4 recommended. 
Preferably one pair for every child in school, at least one for every two children, 
or one for every child in grades i to 3. Milton Bradley Co. $2.75 per doz. 

Foot Rulers 

One for each child. The Primary School Ruler, graduated in quarter inches, 
for use in lowest grades. Milton Bradley Co. $1.50 per gross. 

Metal edge rulers for third grade and above. Any school supply company. 
$4.60 per gross. 

Pencils. For drawing and writing. 

For little children, pencils of large diameter are desirable for both these purposes. 
Bradley's Beginners' Lead Pencils are recommended. Milton Bradley Co. $4.50 
per gross. 



RURAL SCHOOL EQUIPMENT 7 

For older pupils, a good quality of writing pencil should always be provided, 
neither too hard nor too soft. The Eagle Mikado No. 2 is a good pencil. A. 
Flanagan Co. $4.60 per gross. 

Special drawing pencils are also highly desirable. These usually come in three 
grades, soft, medium, and hard. The Eagle School Drawing Pencil may be had 
in five grades, extra soft, soft, soft medium, medium black, and medium. Names 
and prices of a few drawing pencils follow: 

Bradley's drawing pencil, three grades, Milton Bradley Co. $3.50 per gross. 

Eagle school drawing pencil. No. 845, extra soft; No. 846 soft; No. 847 soft 
medium; No. 848 medium black; No. 849 Medium. A. Flanagan Co. $3.00 per 
gross. 

Eagle draughting pencil. No. 314, A. Flanagan Co. $4.65 per gross. 

Colored Crayons 

Several well-known brands, with prices and dealers, are listed below, but 
others may be obtained. See catalogs of the dealers making the brands listed. 

Embeco Crayons, No. i, 8 colors. Milton Bradley Co. 10 cents per box. 

Crayola, No. 99A. Binney and Smith, 81-83 Fulton St., New York City. 

American, Box No. 439. American Crayon Co., Sandusky, Ohio. 

Crayonex, Box No. 3, 8 colors. Prang Co. 10 cents per box. 

Crayonex, Box No. 4, 16 colors. Prang Co. 20 cents per box. 

Water Colors 

Box No. A 13, 3 colors, 4 pans, wooden handled brush. Milton Bradley Co. 
I4.80 per doz. 

Box No. Bi, 8 colors, 4 pans, quill brush. Milton Bradley Co. $6.00 per doz. 

Prang, Box No. i, 3 colors, 4 pans, quill brush. Prang Co. 25 cents per box. 

Prang, Box No. 2, same, with wooden handled brush. Prang Co. 25 cents per 
box. 

Water Pans 

Should be flat and not easily tipped and preferably of china rather than metal. 
May be bought from any art supply house; or small porcelain baking dishes may 
be used instead. Prang Co., Milton Bradley Co., A. Flanagan Co. 50 cents per 
doz. 

Paint Brushes 

Large wash brushes are desirable for little children's work in coloring large flat 
surfaces. Milton Bradley Co. 10 cents each. 

Drawing Paper 

No. 20 Manila 9 x 12. 90 cents per ream. 

No. 20 Manila 12 x 18. $1.80 per ream. 

Squared paper 9 x 12, ruled yi in. squares. I1.50 per ream. 
Milton Bradley Co. 
Construction Papers 

Colored construction papers, about 5 colors, 100 sheets each, 12 x 18", for a 
school of 25 to 30 children. Milton Bradley Co. or Prang Co. $1.00 a package of 
50 sheets. 



8 TEACHERS COLLEGE BULLETIN 

Lindenmeyer's "Rugby" paper, a tough brown wrapping paper of differing 
weights, sheets 24x36. No. 701 a good weight. Henry Lindenmeyer Co. $2.00 
for 100 sheets. 

Paste 

Quart jar for a school of 25 pupils. Milton Bradley's Adehezo recommended. 
Milton Bradley Co., 85 cents a quart jar. 

Clay 

From 50 to 100 lbs. to a school of 25 pupils, if clay modeling is to be frequently 
practiced. Desirable to use native clays, but if such are not available, clay flour 
may be bought, which is made ready for use by adding water. Milton Bradley 
Co. or Prang Co. 5 cents per lb. 

Weaving Materials 

Macreme Cord, for warp. Milton Bradley Co. 25 cents per 3 oz. ball. 

Woodworking Tools 

**Hammer, 12 oz. adze eye, bell *Bit brace, 7" sweep. . $2.10 

face $ .86 Augur bits, K", H ", 

Ripsaw, 20", 8 pts 2.15-up }^", H", H", i" ■ 

**Crosscut saw, 20", 10 pts 2.15-up Counter sink 

Back saw, 10" No. 4 1.70 Gauge No. 77 

*Key hole saw 34-up Try square 60 

*Coping saw No. no, with i **Screw driver or screw 

doz. extra blades to each driver bit 

frame. 30c. each. Per doz. 3.24 *Vise 

*Miter box 1.75 **Pliers 

Chisels, X", ^4", I " i6-$i.oo Level 

Wooden mallet, 2^2" face, No. Plumb 72-up 

3 30 **Gimlet lo-up 

Jack Plane No. 5 4.10 **Nails, screws, tacks. 

Hammacher, Schlemmer & Company, New York City, or a general school 
supply house. 

Note. This is not a minimum list. The number of different tools to be included 
will depend upon the ability of the teacher or pupils to make use of them, as well as 
on economy. The most essential of the list are starred. Those which are practically 
minimum essentials for any woodwork at all are double starred. Cheaper tools of 
poorer quality can be made to serve in some cases. Good tools may be obtained at 
local hardware stores. 

Gardening Tools 

The supply needed varies in different situations. Tools should be stout and of 
good quality. It is extravagant to buy cheap materials in garden tools. Light 
weight and small size hoes and rakes are desirable for smaller pupils. Tools usually 
needed include rakes, ten or twelve tooth; hoes, square and heart shaped; trowels; 
one or more spading forks; one or more shovels; a hatchet; watering pots or 
hose; garden line; measuring tape; and hand weeders. May be obtained of local 
hardware store, or of Hammacher, Schlemmer & Co. See their catalog No. 547. 



•38- 


•73 


•25 




•95 




.60 




.20- 


up 


[.10- 


up 


.10- 


up 


.32-up 



RURAL SCHOOL EQUIPMENT 9 

Hot Lunch Outfit 

This also varies with conditions. No list is given here, because so many are 
available in free publications. Good lists are to be found in the following bulle- 
tins: "Lunches for the Rural School," University College of Agriculture, Lincoln, 
Neb.; "The School Lunch," Pennsylvania State College of Agriculture, State 
College, Pa.; "Hot School Lunch Project," Michigan Agricultural College, East 
Lansing, Mich.; "Home Economics in Village and Rural Schools," State Agricul- 
tural College, Manhattan, Kansas; "Rural School Lunches," University of Idaho, 
Moscow, Idaho; and "The Lunch Hour at School," Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C. 

Sewing Outfit 

Also variable. Scissors, needles, thread and thimbles are a minimum supply. 
It is desirable that there be large scissors for cutting out as well as smaller ones for 
snipping, and a table of sufficient size for cutting out, folding sewing tables being 
especially recommended. A sewing machine is very desirable. 

Other Outfits, Miscellaneous 

Individual outfits for sheet metal work, shoe repairing, painting and varnishing, 
millinery, leather working, and art metal work are described in "Suggestions for 
Gifts to Children," a circular issued by the Junior Achievement Bureau, which 
may be obtained free by applying to Bureau Office, 168 Bridge Street, Springfield, 
Mass. 

MATERIALS FOR CONSTRUCTION (hOME PROCURED) 
Paper 

1. Smooth sheets of wrapping paper of all kinds, for cutting, folding, and book- 
let making. 

2. Wrappers from Kodak films, furnishing black paper for silhouette work. 

3. Ribbon paper, from ribbon bolts, for playing store, paper cutting, etc. 

4. Tin foil. 

5. Lace paper from candy and soap boxes. 

6. Tissue paper, for making doll dresses, etc. 

7. Wall paper, both the printed and the plain sides. 

8. Newspaper, for stuffing rag dolls, etc., for making paper pulp, or making 
birds and animals for the sand table, for soldier caps, etc. 

9. Paper bags, for making balloons, masks, dolls, etc. 

Cardboard 

1. Suit boxes, hat boxes, thread boxes, candy boxes, Uneeda and similar 
cracker boxes, Quaker cereal boxes. 

2. Milk bottle tops for wheels. 

3. Tablet backs. , 

4. Corrugated cardboard from book wrappings or Mason jar packing boxes. 

Wood 

1. Orange crates, goods boxes or crates, cigar boxes, chalk boxes. 

2. Scrap wood from house building, from box factories, from wagon factories. 

3. Spools, large bobbins from knitting mills, film spools. 



lO TEACHERS COLLEGE BULLETIN 

Weaving Materials 

1. Scraps of soft dress goods and old stockings for rag weaving. 

2. Honeysuckle vines, grasses, corn-husks, and pine needles for baskets. This 
basketry work is probably too hard for the primary grades. 

Modeling Materials 

1. Native clay. 

2. Paper pulp. Recipe: "To make pulp of paper mache, tear any waste paper 
(newspaper or writing paper will do) into pieces not larger than one inch square 
Fill a bucket with these bits of paper and pour over it about a gallon of hot 
water (boiling). Let the paper soak for five or six hours and then drain off the 
excess water. If now the mass of wet paper is worked vigorously with a stick, 
churning it and thus tearing the bits of paper very fine, you will have, at the end 
of a few minutes, an excellent quality of paper pulp." 

3. Clay substitute. Recipe: "Take equal parts of flour and water and a double 
quantity of salt. Mix and boil till it makes a hard ball." 

4. Relief map material. Recipe: "Use 4 cups of salt to i cup of corn starch. 
Heat the salt to a very high temperature. Mix the cornstarch and water to the 
consistency of thin cream, pour into the hot salt, and mix thoroughly." 

Chain Materials 

1. Macaroni or spaghetti, cut in short lengths and decorated with water colors. 

2. Berries, rosehips, dyed corn. 

3. Sliced carrots, strung when fresh cut and allowed to dry. 

4. Straw or swamp grass, cut in lengths. 

5. Paper beads. 

Library Paste 

Recipe: "i cup of flour, i quart of water, i tablespoonful alum, 10 drops of 
oil of cloves. Bring water and alum to boiling point, add flour mixed with water 
to form a smooth paste, and boil in a double boiler for 20 minutes. Add the oil 
of cloves and strain. 

Miscellaneous 

Furniture catalogs, fashion books, advertisements, etc., for cutting out pictures 
to be used in various ways. 

MATERIALS FOR ENJOYMENT (COMMERCIAL) 
Books 

Books suitable and at the same time attractive for little children are not abund- 
ant and are usually expensive. Primers and first and second readers usually 
furnish good reading in simple and attractive form and the best of these should 
be part of the school library. Usually at Christmas many very good books may 
be found in the ten-cent stores by those who know how to sort out the good 
from the worthless. The following books, some at five cents and some at ten 
cents, and all in good print and with good pictures, were purchased at ten-cent 
stores last Christmas. 



RURAL SCHOOL EQUIPMENT II 

Three Little Kittens. Pictures by A. E. Kennedy. 

Red Riding Hood. Pictures by Gordon Robinson. 

Ten Little Piggies. Pictures by A. E. Kennedy. 

Mother Goose. (Old Mother Goose, when she wanted to wander). Pictures by 

Gordon Robinson. 
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe. 
The Three Bears. Pictures by A. E. Kennedy. 
My Animal ABC. 
Farmyard ABC. 
Baby's First Lesson. 
Noah's Ark. Pictures by A. E. Kennedy. 

All the above are published by Samuel Gabriel Sons and Co., New York. 
The House that Jack Built. 
The Little Indian Hiawatha. 
The Night before Christmas. 

These three are published by M. A. Donahue & Co., Chicago. 
Mother Goose Book of Rhymes. Pictures by Margaret Evans Price. Published 

by Stecher Litho. Co., Rochester, N. Y. 
Peter Rabbit. 
Simple Simon. Muslin Book. 

These two are published by the Saalfield Publishing Co., Akron, Ohio, New 
York City, and Chicago. 

The following list consists of more expensive books from which should be 
selected as many as possible for the primary children's library. 

BOOKS FOR BEGINNERS 

*Peter Rabbit. Beatrix Potter. F. Warne and Co., New York. 

*This Little Pig's Picture Book. Walter Crane. Stone & Kimball, Chicago. 

*The Hey Diddle Diddle Picture Book. R. Caldecott, F. Warne & Co. 
The Edward Lear Alphabet Book. Reilly and Button Co., Chicago. 
Over in the Meadow. Olive Wadsworth. Morgan Shepard Co., New York. 
Mother Earth's Children, or The Frolic of the Fruits and Vegetables. Gordon & 

Ross. P. F. Volland and Co., New York. 
Rhymes for Kindly Children. Snyder and Gruelle. P. F. Volland and Co. 

*Little Black Sambo. Helen Bannerman. Frederick A. Stokes Co., N. Y. 

*The Night Before Christmas. Any well illustrated edition. 

*Pied Piper of Hamelin. Illustrated by Kate Greenaway. F. Warne & Co. 

* Clean Peter and the Children of Grubbylea. Translated by Ada Wallas. Long- 
mans, Green & Co. New York. 

*Mother Goose. Any well illustrated edition. The Volland Edition and the Rand 
McNally edition with pictures by Blanche Fisher Wright, and the Jessie 
Wilcox Smith Edition, Mead Co., are particularly good. 

Mother Hubbard's Picture Book, Red Riding Hood Picture Book, Cinderella Picture 
Book, and Blue Beard's Picture Book are other Crane picture books, published 
by John Lane Co., New York. All of these except the first have rather small 
print or long stories. 



12 TEACHERS COLLEGE BULLETIN 

*Nursery Rhymes (i vol.). Beautifully illustrated or in small book series: 

Rhymes and Lullabies, Songs and Ditties, Tales and Jingles. F. Warne & Co. 
*Bunny Rabbit's Diary. Little, Brown & Co. 

Rhymes and Tales for Children. E. A. Blaisdell. 
*The Little Red Hen. In verse. Any edition. 

Three Little Pigs. F. Warne & Co. 

The Tailor and the Crow. F. Warne & Co. 

* Johnny Crow's Garden. F. Warne & Co. 

* Johnny Crow's Party. F, Warne & Co. 
Three Bears. John Lane Co. 

* Three Blind Mice. F. Warne & Co. 

*The Flopsy Bunnies. Beatrix Potter. F. Warne & Co. 

* Stories for the Seven Year Old. Lovey Chisholm. Stokes Co. 

*Free and Treadwell's Reading Literature Primer and First Reader. Rowe, Peterson 

& Co., Chicago. 
*The Story Hour. Coe and Christie. First Year. American Book Co., N. Y. 
*The Folklore Reader. Osgood, Book L Atkinson, Mentzer & Grover, Chicago. 
*Progressive Road, Book L Silver, Burdett & Co., N. Y. 
*Edson-Lang Reader. Book L B. H. Sanborn & Co., N. Y. 
*Beacon First Reader. Ginn & Co., N. Y. 

^Riverside Primer and First Reader. Houghton Mifflin Co., N. Y. 
*Child's World Primer and First Reader. B. F. Johnson Co., Richmond, Va. 
*Dutch Twins Primer. Houghton Mifflin Co. 
*Winston Primer and First Reader. John C. Winston Co., Philadelphia, 

A Child's Own Book of Verse. Skinner. Macmillan Co. 

Little Rhymes for Little Readers. Seegmiller. 
*Note. Starred books are particularly desirable. 

OTHER BOOKS FOR GRADES I TO III 

*Seven Little Sisters. 



* „ , J .„ i' Andrews. Ginn & Co. 

*Each and All, 

*Around the World. Volume I. Silver, Burdett & Co. 

* Fairy Stories and Fables. \ r, ,, . « • n i /- 
^7j o. • J-.7 7- . > Baldwm. American Book Co. 
Old Stones oj the hast. J 

*Banbury Cross Stories. Chas. E. Merrill, New York. 

*Merry Animal Tales. Bigham. Little, Brown & Co., Boston. 

Cherry Tree Children. \^^^.^^^^^^ Little, Brown & Co. 

I wtkght Stories. J 

The Doings of a Dear Little Couple. Brine. 
*The Dramatic Readers. Book I and H. Bryce. Chas. Scribner's Sons, N. Y. 
*Through the Looking Glass. 1 p ii 

* A lice in Wonderland. J 
*The Tree Dwellers. ] 

*The Early Cave Men. \ Dopp. Rand McNally & Co., N. Y. C. 

*The Later- Cave Men. J 

*Great Americans for Little Americans. Eggleston. American Book Co. 



RURAL SCHOOL EQUIPMENT 1 3 

Eugene Field Reader. Chas. Scribner's Sons. 
*The Indian Primer. Fox. American Book Co. 

* Just-So Stories. Doubleday, Page & Co. 

Little Red Riding Hood, and The Seven Little Kids. Educational Pub. Co. 
*Classic Stories. McMurry. Public School Pub. Co., Bloomington, 111. 
*Adventures of a Brownie. 1 Educational Pub. Co. 

Bow-wow and Mew-mew. J 

*The Dutch Twins. 1 p^^j^j^^^^ Houghton Mifflin Co. 
*The Cave Twins. J 

Reynard the Fox. American Book Co. 

*Fables, Folk Stories, and Legends. Scudder. Houghton Mifflin Co. 
*Little Dramas. Skinner. American Book Co. 

Tibby and Tabby. Duffield Co. N. Y. 
*Eskimo Stories. Smith. Rand McNally Co. 
*Roggie and Reggie. Harper & Bros., N. Y. 

* Arabella and Araminta. Thompson, Brown & Co., N. Y. 

* Child's Garden of Verses. Stevenson. 

* Folklore Stories and Proverbs. Wiltse. 

*When Great Folks Were Little Folks. Dorothy D. Calhoun. 

Story Without an End. F. W. Carvre, Trans. Sarah Austin. D. C. Heath & Co. 

Little Red Riding Hood. ^ 

Hansel and Gretel. 

Sleeping Beauty. Penn. Pub. Co. 

Jack and the Beanstalk, i 

Stories for the Eight Year Old. Fred. Stokes & Co. 

In Fairyland. Lovey Chisholm. G. T. Putnam's Sons. 

How Mr. Rabbit Lost His Tail. Harper Bros. 
*Overall Boys in Switzerland. Rand McNally Co. 
*Sunbonnet Babies in Holland. Rand McNally Co. 
*Little House in the Woods. Clara Whitehill Hunt. Houghton Mifflin Co. 

* Tales from Afar. Catherine T. Bryce. Newson & Co., N. Y. 
*Goop Tales. Gelett Burgess. Stokes Co. 

* Fairy Tales a Child Can Read and Act. Lilian E. Nixon. Doubleday, Page &Co. 
*Mother West Wind Stories. Little, Brown & Co. 

Adventures of Bobby Coon. 

* Adventures of Buster Bear. 
*Adventures of Grandfather Frog. \ Illus. by Harrison Cody. Little, Brown & Co. 

* Adventures of Red Squirrel. 

* Adventures of Peter Cotton Tail. 

This series contains about eighteen books of animal stories. 
Princess and Cur die. George McDonald. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia. 
Davy and the Goblin. Chas. E. Carryl. Ed. Stein, Philadelphia. 

LISTS OF BOOKS FOR OLDER PUPILS 

It is impossible to include in the scope of this bulletin a corresponding list 
of books for upper grade pupils. Numerous lists are available. Your own State 



14 TEACHERS COLLEGE BULLETIN 

Library Commission probably issues one. Good lists may be had in the following 

pamphlets, for each of which there may be a small charge: 

Books for Boys and Girls. Published by The Free Public Library, Newark, N. J. 

Books for Boys. Same source. 

One Thousand Good Books for Children. Issued for the New Jersey Public Library 

Commission by H. W. Wilson Co., New York City. 
Minnesota Library Books for Elementary and Rural Schools. Department of 

Education, St. Paul. 

The F. A. Owen Publishing Co., Dansville, N. Y., and Des Moines, Iowa, 
publishes 350 books, of about thirty-two pages each, for all grades, at 7 cents 
per copy. The list embraces industries, fables and myths, nature, biography, 
history, geography, and literature. 

The Educational Publishing Companj^, Chicago, issues a graded series of Eng- 
lish classics at 15 cents each, or 25 cents in cloth binding. 

The C. M. Parker Publishing Company, Taylorville, Illinois, publishes Penny 
Classics, eight-page leaflets, each containing one or more poems or prose selections, 
at 15 cent's a dozen or $1.00 a hundred, assorted as desired. 

The Unit Press, Fitchburg, Mass., issues the Unit Poems, single sheets, per- 
forated, for filing in notebooks, at one cent each. The poems they publish cover a 
wide range. 

Magazines and Newspapers 

Desirable equipment in this class would include at least a good story and gen- 
eral interest magazine for the older pupils, a similar magazine for the primary 
grades, a current events paper or magazine, and a local newspaper. It would be 
well to add others of the same kinds, and also magazines in a special field. The 
following list is recommended as a basis of selection: 
St. Nicholas. Story and general interest. Monthly. Century Pub. Co., 353 

Fourth Ave., New York City. $3.50. 
Youth's Companion. Story and general interest. Weekly. Perry Mason Co., 

Boston, Mass. $2.00. 
Little Folks. Story magazine for younger children. Monthly. S. S. Cassino, 

Maiden, Mass. 
Everyland. Stories and articles for children on life and customs in other lands. 

Everyland Co., 160 Fifth Ave., New York City. $1.50. 
Popular Mechanics. Invention. Monthly. 6 North Michigan Ave., Chicago, 111. 

$3.00. 
National Geographical Magazine. Illustrations of scenes from all lands and bird, 

plant, and animal life. Monthly. National Geographical Society, Hubbard 

Memorial Hall, Washington, D. C. $4.00. 
Independent. Material for debates on current topics. Weekly. Independent 

Corporation, 119 West 40th Street, New York City. Single subscriptions. 

$5.00. Generous rates to clubs. 
Literary Digest. Non-partisan review of news of the world. Weekly. Funk & 

Wagnalls Co., New York City. $4.00. 
Current Events. Brief news items of the week, compiled for school use. Weekly. 

Washington, D. C. 40 cents. 



RURAL SCHOOL EQUIPMENT 1 5 

Pathfinder. Current events. Weekly. Washington, D. C. $i.oo. 

If children are to be benefited by books, they must use books. Even with 
careful handling, books wear out. Every teacher should have on hand a supply 
of material for book mending. The older pupils can do this work. The following 
materials are desirable: 
Transparent Adhesive Tape. For mending torn leaves. ^ in. wide and 15 ft. 

long, on spools, about 5 cents a spool; or 
Transparent Gummed Cloth. In packages, l in. wide, 12 ft. long; 2 in. wide, 6 

ft. long; 3 in. wide, 4 ft. long, 25 cents a package. 
Opaque Gummed Paper. For attaching loose leaves. Put up in rolls, i in. wide, 

18 yds. long, 25 cents a roll. These and other library supplies may be had from 

Gaylord Bros., Syracuse, N. Y. 

Musical Instruments 

The Victrola, Grafonola, or some similar musical instrument is very desirable. 
If such an instrument is provided, records should be selected with great care. 
It is important that the music which children hear should be of high quality. 
Good lists are suggested in The Victrola in Rural Schools, a free publication of 
the Educational Department of the Victor Talking Machine Company, Camden, 
N. J., and in Music in the Rural Schools, Literature and Music, and New Columbia 
Records for Kindergarten and Primary Grades, free pamphlets issued by the Educa- 
tional Department, Columbia Graphaphone Co., Woolworth Building, New York 
City. The Trenton, New Jersey, State Normal School issued March, 1919, 
Bulletin No. 23, an excellent list of "Sixty Records that Children Should Hear." 
Ruth Durheim, 842 Central Building, Seattle, Washington, is author and publisher 
of a manual on music appreciation which contains a graded and classified list, 
of phonograph records suitable for school use. Price of manual, 60 cents. 

Pictures 

Gross Picture Co., 19th St. & Broadway, New York City, publishes Taylor's, 
Jessie Wilcox Smith's, and similar pictures. 

Perry Pictures Co. Maiden, Mass. publishes copies of masterpieces, also 
colored pictures of birds, insects, etc. 

National Geographical Society, Washington, D. C, issues sets of geographic or 
nature study pictures, reproduced from the magazine. 

Elson Art Publication Co., Inc., Belmont,jMass., publishes Elson Picture Studies, 
at ID cents each or 75 cents per dozen to schools. They also have an educational 
art exhibition which is loaned free to schools which desire to raise funds to place 
pictures on schoolroom walls, on condition that net proceeds from the exhibition 
be expended in purchasing pictures and frames from them. 

Northwestern School Supply Co., Minneapolis, Minn., issues a series of Mother 
Goose pictures for charts. Price, per set of twelve pictures, 25 cents. 

MATERIALS FOR ENJOYMENT (hOME PROCURED) 

I. Pictures from such magazines as The National Geographic, Asia, or Travel^ 
mounted on light cards or stiff paper. 



1 6 TEACHERS COLLEGE BULLETIN 

2. Picture post cards. 

3. Old magazines, especially children's magazines. 

4. Magazine covers. 

Such materials as these are useful in getting information, but they are also 
sources of sheer enjoyment. Children's pleasure in looking at pictures should 
be gratified by keeping pictures of many kinds available, in envelopes or boxes, 
to be looked over at will. 

EQUIPMENT FOR PROBLEM SOLVING (COMMERCIAL) 

Equipment for this purpose is needed more for advanced than for primary 
pupils. A good reference library is especially important, with handbooks in 
various lines of nature-study, historical and geographical reference material, a 
good dictionary, maps, globes, and an encyclopedia suitable for children's use. 
No attempt is here made to give a list of this type of material, except in the 
matter of encyclopedias and dictionaries for which the following are suggested: 

Encyclopedias 

1. The World Book. 1917 edition, 8 volumes for $30. Published by Hanson- 
Roach-Fowler Co., Chicago. 1919 edition, 10 volumes for $46 cash. Published 
by Quarrie Co., 104 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago. Probably the best encyclopedia 
for school use. 

2. Appleion's Young People's Encyclopedia. 1916 edition, 6 volumes for $8 or 
$9. Published by Appleton & Co. Later editions are more expensive. This is 
suggested only in case schools have but a small amount to spend for an encyclo- 
pedia. It has no bibliographies, poor cross references, and is weak in illustrations, 
but withal is the best to be had for this money. 

3. Champlin's Encyclopedia. 4 volumes, each volume dealing with a special 
topic, i.e., Common Things, Persons and Places, etc., is to be had at $3.00 per 
volume. Henry Holt & Co., Publishers. 

Dictionaries 

An unabridged dictionary is desirable. The New International and The New 
Standard are both particularly good. 

The Winston Dictionary. 1 volume of 820 pages, 800 illustrations, bound in 
extra cloth, indexed. John C. Winston Co., 1006-1016 Arch St., Philadelphia. 
$2.50. 

This dictionary is especially mentioned because of its desirability and adap- 
tability for children's use. Good type, self-pronouncing, derivatives included in 
text, and definitions selected for practical use. 

OTHER EQUIPMENT FOR PROBLEM SOLVING 

In addition to books as sources of information, a few other articles of equipment 
are desirable. An aquarium and insect cages, or several large glass jars which 
will serve as substitutes, are needed for keeping insects, frogs, or toads, and other 
small animals for observation. A small amount of equipment is also desirable for 



RURAL SCHOOL EQUIPMENT 1 7 

experiments with plants. Flower boxes, flats, a cold frame, a hot bed, and simple 
apparatus for studying the water content ot soil, are types of such equipment. 
Most of these articles may be made in the school by the pupils, but the materials 
of which they are to be made will need to be supplied. The following pages give 
sources of ready-made equipment or of directions for making it in school. 

Aquaria 

Large rectangular or cylindrical aquaria can be obtained from Whitall Tatum 
Co., 46 Barclay St., New York City, and Boston; Bausch & Lomb Optical Com- 
pany, Rochester, New York; or the Will Corporation, Rochester, N. Y. 

CYLINDRICAL AQUARIA 

Diam., 6 in., 8}4 in., 10 in., 12 in. Price, 50 cents, $1.00, $2.00, $2.25. Bausch 
& Lomb. 

ROUND BATTERY JARS — FLINT GLASS 

5 in. wide, 7 in. deep inside, 46 cents each, $4.60 per doz. ; 6 in. wide, 8 in. 
deep inside, 75 cents each, $7.30 per doz. Whitall Tatum Co. 

Aquaria can also be made by the local tinsmith, or by anyone who can handle 
the few necessary tools — a glass cutter, tinner's snips, pinchers, a soldering iron, 
and a carpenter's square. For directions for making, see Hodge's Nature Study 
and Life, pp. 394-400. 

Insect Cages 

A bottomless wooden frame, covered with wire netting and set in a tray of damp 
sand in which branches of the food plant may be stuck, is all that is necessary for 
a cage for large insects. For rearing insects use a large glass fruit jar, or a glass 
aquarium in the bottom of which are two inches of clean moist sand. Cheese cloth 
or mosquito netting may be used for covers, fastened in place with rubber bands. 

Insect Nets 

These are easily made at home by bending a heavy wire into a circle about a foot 
in diameter, and turning the ends of the wire out like the edges of the handle of a 
palm-leaf fan. An old broom stick will serve as a handle. A hole is bored in the 
end with a hot iron rod or a small bit, and the ends of the wire inserted and 
fastened in firmly with pegs or nails. The net proper is a cheese-cloth or mosquito- 
bar sack a yard long, with one end rounded, and the open end sewed firmly to 
the wire. 

A dip net is similarly made, but is smaller and needs a fine meshed cloth. 

Germinators 

Any container with a glass side or sides will show the germination of seeds. Two 
small strips of glass held apart by narrow wooden ends makes a temporary box 
which will serve the purpose. A sheet of glass may take the place of one side of a 
chalk box or other small box. A tumbler or tall slender marmalade glass will 
answer. These are to be filled with soil or sawdust, the seeds planted close to the 
glass, and the glass covered with opaque paper to give the seeds a chance to 
sprout. Moist cotton between two sheets of glass may be used in the same way. 



1 8 TEACHERS COLLEGE BULLETIN 

Cold Frames and Hotbeds 

Any one who requires directions for making these is referred to Farmer's Bulle- 
tins 934, 936, and 937, and to "Gardening Instructions for Club Members," U. S. 
Dept. of Agriculture, Department Circular 27. Small cold frames may be made of 
boxes, the upper edges of their sides made slanting by erecting upon them a frame 
of light wood or even stiff cardboard, with a window pane or two laid on slant- wise 
for a cover. These are good to set in a sunny window for starting seedlings in the 
house, serving to equalize temperature and moisture, and to protect the seedlings 
against mice, often an important consideration in school germination of plants. 

Magnifying Glass 

A reading glass or similar magnifier is useful for little children's study of natural 
objects; a microscope is not worth what it costs in the usual elementary school. 
Magnifying glasses may be bought of Bausch & Lomb, Rochester, New York, at 
prices ranging from 75 cents to $3.00 each, and reading glasses from $1.50 to $6.00. 

EQUIPMENT FOR PRACTICE (COMMERCIAL) 

Writing Materials 

1. Pencils. See "Pencils for Drawing and Writing," p. 6. 

2. Scratch paper. Good quality, not too rough. 

3. Ink paper. 

Sign Markers 

Junior Sign Marker No. 135, $8.50 per dozen. Fulton Specialty Co. Pro- 
curable singly from Milton Bradley Co., |i.io. 

Drill Cards for Reading 

1. Embeco Sentence Builder. Milton Bradley Co. 15 cents a box. 

2. Cards for use with Elson-Rumkel Primerand Elson Primary Readers. Set III, 
304 cards 4x8", containing all the words in the primer, $3.00. Set V, seat work 
word cards (16 in set). Enough word repetitions to reproduce all the pages of the 
primer. Scott, Foresman & Co. 20 cents. 

3. Expression Card and Sentence Builder. To accompany Progressive Story 
Steps and Progressive Road to Reading. Book One. A card for each basal story, 
giving a reprint of the sentence in large type, to be cut apart and used for matching 
and building. Milton Bradley Co. 7 cents per card. 

4. Rhyme Cards. To accompany the Merrill Readers. Mother Goose rhymes 
and illustrations. Group I, 12 illustrated cards; Group II, 12 rhyme cards without 
illustration, to be cut into lines; Group III, 12 rhyme cards (exactly like those of 
Group II) to be cut into phrases. Chas. E. Merrill Co. 25 cents each set of 12. 

Inquire of the publishers of the readers in use in your school for similar cards 
provided for practice on the vocabularies of their texts. 

5. Self-verifying Busywork. No. 8036, Word matching. Milton Bradley Co. 
25 cents a box. 

Similar cards may be made by the teacher or older pupils to fit the special needs 
of the school, if a sign marker and oak tag or other tag board are available. Pictures 
cut out by the little children may be mounted on small cards, and words printed 



RURAL SCHOOL EQUIPMENT 1 9 

to match with them, the word being printed also on the back of the card for self- 
verifying. Where, however, the material needed can be bought ready printed, it 
is more economical to buy it. Hand printing takes much time, and time is valu- 
able. One supervisor has found it possible to have the word cards needed for her 
schools printed by the local newspaper print shop. 

Booklets containing the children's accounts of their own experiences may be 
printed or hectographed, and make excellent reading material. There is no 
commercial substitute for this sort of reading material. 

Drill Material for Arithmetic 

1. Colored Tablets for Number work. Pasteboard tablets one inch in diameter, 
100 circular and 100 square, assorted colors. 40 cents per box. Milton Bradley Co. 

2. Cubical Counting Blocks. Milton Bradley Co. 100 plain wooden i inch 
cubes, in paper box, 70 cents. 

3. Parish's Primary Tablets. Milton Bradley Co. Set A. Twenty tablets 
showing number combinations by means of groups of colored dots. 

4. Embeco Perception Cards. Milton Bradley Co. 6>^"x 10". 60 cents per box. 

5. Model Store Equipment. Free. Address Educational Foundations, 31-33 
East 27th St., New York City. 

6. Educational Toy Money. Milton Bradley Co. No. 4009, 40 cents per box; 
No. 8050, 1000 pieces, assorted, $1.00 per box. 

Practice Exercises in Arithmetic 

1. Studebaker Economy Practice Exercises in Arithmetic. Set B — Two, for 
pupils of grades four to eight inclusive, in rural schools. Supplies eighteen pupils. 
Boxed, $7.50. Set B — Three, for smaller rural schools. Supplies nine pupils. 
In manila envelope, $3.50. Scott, Foresman & Co., New York. 

2. Courtis Standard Practice Tests in Arithmetic. Cabinet H, for a class of 
24 pupils of grades 4 to 8 inclusive, $7.00. Cabinet HI, for 12 pupils, $2.75. 
World Book Co., Yonkers, N. Y., and Chicago. 

Outline Maps for Geography or History 

I. The Lincoln Geographical Series, 8 x io>^ inches. Atkinson, Mentzer & Co., 
New York & Chicago. $1.00 per 100. 

The Talisman Outline Maps, for history work. Atkinson, Mentzer & Co., 
$1.00 per 100. 

The McKinley Series of Geographical and Historical Outline Maps, 7^ x 10 
inches, McKinley Publishing Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, $1.00 per 100. 

This company also publishes Wall Outline Maps, at about 15 cents or 20 cents 
each. 

EQUIPMENT FOR PRACTICE (HOMEMADE) 
Much of the above materials, like the reading cards, may be made by the teacher 
or pupils, if oak tag and a printing outfit are provided. Other home material 
may be used. Wheat or oat straw, cut into measured lengths, is good for counting. 
Acorn cups, pebbles, shells, and large seeds, such as corn or melon, also make 
good counters. Figures cut from calendar pads serve many purposes which will 
suggest themselves to the ingenious teacher or to wide-awake children. 



20 TEACHERS COLLEGE BULLETIN 

GAMES FOR SCHOOL USE (COMMERCIAL) 

Indoor Games 

1. Blocks. Froebel's 5th and 6th gifts (consisting of inch cubes, and of blocks 
two inches long, an inch wide, and half an inch thick, and the same divided length- 
wise and crosswise) may be had in bulk in any quantities, at prices much below 
the cost per box, which is 60 cents for 39 blocks of the fifth gift and 60 cents for 
38 of the second Milton Bradley Co. 

The Hills blocks, or any assortment of them, may be had of the Schoenhut 
Co., Philadelphia. 

2. Dominoes. Jack straws. Checkers. These may be had as cheap as 10 cents 
a game. Better qualities may be obtained of F. A. O. Schwartz or any other toy 
dealer. 

3. Parchesi. A good game for drill in number combinations. Cost, about 75 
cents to $1.00. 

4. Cardboard Anagrams. F. A. O. Schwartz. No. 309, 25 cents. 

5. Logomachy. F. A. O. Schwartz. 65 cents. 

6. Addition and Subtraction. F. A. O. Schwartz. 35 cents. 

7. Lotto. There are various lotto games — the original, which consists in 
matching numbers; geographical lotto, matching names of cities to maps of 
sections of the United States; fairytale lotto, matching numbers and at the 
same time building a puzzle picture. These may be had for 65 cents each from 
F. A. O. Schwartz. 

8. Sliced birds and animals, picture puzzles, cut-up maps. A few such puzzles 
are desirable. Prices range from 10 or 15 cents up. 

9. Quoits or Ring Toss. Pitch-em, a game of quoits with horse shoes of rubber. 
$1.00. Deck Ring Toss, No. 608, with 7 in. rings, single set, $1.00. F. A. O. 
Schwartz. 

10. Bean bag. F. A. O. Schwartz. 

11. Tenpins. F. A. O. Schwartz. $i.25andup. 

12. Educational Card Games. Flags, Birds, Authors, Arithmetic Games, etc. 
Northwestern School Supply Co. 

Other desirable games may often be found in ten-cent stores at Christmas time. 

Playground Equipment 

The United States Bureau of Education has issued a bulletin. Rural School 
Playgrounds and Equipment, recommending as minimum essentials for the play- 
ground of the average one-room school, two pla^^ground baseballs, two playground 
baseball bats, one pair jumping standards, one sand pile, two see-saws, two 
swings, one turning bar, and one volley ball, net, and posts. Other desirable 
equipment is also mentioned. The bulletin is Teachers' Leaflet No. 11, October, 
1920. Athletic equipment of all kinds may be obtained from A. G. Spalding & 
Bros., Inc., Chicopee, Mass. 

HOMEMADE GAME MATERIALS 

No price is given for the bean bag game, for it may be better made at school. 
Real horseshoes may be used for an out-of-door game of quoits. Ringtoss is a 



RURAL SCHOOL EQUIPMENT 21 

more worthwhile game if there are three sizes of rings, each with its own value, 
the smallest counting most when thrown over the post. These rings may be made 
of rope by any one who knows how to splice. 

For tenpins may be substituted wooden or heavy cardboard soldiers. One 
family of children enjoyed hours of pleasure with folded paper "chickens" or "birds" 
used instead of tenpins. 

Checker boards and anagram cards may be made at school. 

Cut-up birds, animals, maps, and other puzzle pictures may all be school or 
homemade, by first pasting the picture on stiff card or tag board, and allowing it 
to dry under a weight to keep it from warping, after which it may be cut up with 
a sharp knife. 

The game of joining dots into squares, requires only a pencil for each player and 
a sheet of paper. 

A phonics game on the general order of Old Maid, may be made and played by 
the children. Use small blank cards the size of library cards. On one card print 
a single letter, as M. On the next paste the picture of some object whose name 
begins with M, and print the name beneath the picture, as man. Make similar 
pairs of cards for every letter. Let X be the old maid letter, for which there is no 
mate. Other such games may be worked out by teachers or pupils. 

Various other playthings are within the children's own power to construct. 
Paper dolls may be cut from fashion books or drawn and painted. Cloth dolls 
may be stuffed with newspaper torn into bits. The foot of a stocking, white or 
black, makes a fine doll. Doll furniture may be made of wood or card board, 
doll dishes molded of clay and painted. Marbles may also be made of clay, as 
may beads for stringing. The children in a country school experimented with 
baking their clay jars and tablets inside the school heater. They laid a plowshare 
on top the red coals and placed the articles to be baked on this. Fairly satis- 
factory results were obtained. 

Reins may be knitted on spools, balls made of gloves or stockings and stuffed 
with shredded paper. Boats may be whittled or made of folded newspaper. 
Newspaper also affords material for kites and soldier caps. In the making of 
these and other toys will come opportunity for much of the desirable constructive 
activity of the schools. 

HOW MUCH EQUIPMENT SHOULD A SCHOOL HAVE? 

Anyone who knows the typical barrenness of the rural school is 
likely to consider the equipment suggestions of the preceding pages 
as extravagant or impossible. They are probably neither. They 
omit many articles frequently found in city schools and sometimes 
in rural schools, such as a typewriter, a stereopticon or projec- 
toscope, stereoscopes, a moving picture projector, and others, all 
of which perhaps ought to be in the county superintendent's office 
for transportation from school to school, if not in every individual 
school. Any teacher who is capable of seeing that her pupils make 



22 TEACHERS COLLEGE BULLETIN 

profitable use of them is entirely within reason to ask for any- 
thing mentioned in these pages. It would, of course, be foolish to 
put all this equipment in charge of a teacher so ignorant and care- 
less that she would let it get broken, lost, or out of order from disuse. 
Suitable storage closets, cabinets, etc., would be required to take 
proper care of it, and the children would need to be taught to 
assume responsibility in using and caring for it. All these things 
are granted. But does granting them mean that the material should 
not be provided, or that some other conditions of the school badly 
need changing? 

The following significant statement is quoted from a letter to 
his superintendent written by the upper grade teacher of a two- 
teacher school: "Like you, I am convinced that the new way of 
teaching is better than the old. However, when I attempt to depart 
from the old way, I find that in many cases the equipment of the 
school does not lend itself to the new. The rural schools have been 
equipped for the old method . . . Personally, I find it most diffi- 
cult to depart from the old, and when I attempt it, I find the equip- 
ment problem a serious obstacle." This teacher has put his finger 
on an essential fact. The "old way" was largely rehearsal of facts 
from text-book statements. For this kind of work little more is 
needed than text-books. The "new method" is bound up with 
activity, with living, and the traditional school room has very 
little connection with life activity. 

More is demanded of schools to-day than ever before, and schools 
are much more expensive enterprises than in the old days. Teachers' 
salaries, even now but a meager wage, are yet double or treble what 
they once were. Rural school buildings in the last few years have 
cost as much as $7,500 for a single room. Is it good economy to put 
several thousand dollars into a building to use as as school, pay a 
teacher a thousand dollars a year to teach in it, and then make both 
ineffective for lack of a few hundred dollars additional spent on 
equipment? It is like buying an automobile and hiring a chauffeur, 
but refusing to furnish gas and oil, or doing without spark plugs 
and magneto points. Or it is like employing a secretary and balking 
at the purchase of a typewriter, multigraph, or files. 

With these considerations in mind, the following theses are offered 
as criteria to aid in determining how much and what educational 
equipment it is reasonable to expect a school to provide: 



RURAL SCHOOL EQUIPMENT 23 

I. An educative environment is one of the three essentials of 
any good school; the other two being wise objectives, always 
guiding, and skilled teaching. The objectives furnish the end, the 
environment the means, teaching skill utilizes the one to further the 
other. All three are essential to highest efhciency. 

II. The educational function of the environment is twofold; (i) 
education through impression, (2) education through expression. 

1. Education through impression. Much of one's taste and 
appreciation, one's standards of values, is the outcome of accus- 
tomedness. It is important, therefore, that the environment, both 
natural and artificial, be such as to develop good standards (beau- 
tiful, not ugly; refined, not crude; orderly, not unkempt; clean, 
not dirty; convenient, not inconvenient; rich, not barren; suited 
to purpose, not unsuited). 

2. Education through expression. Growth comes through 
experience, largely active participation. It is essential, therefore, 
that the environment, both natural and artificial, be such as to 
provide opportunity for a wide range of desirable experiences, to 
stimulate to educative activity, and to afford means for the exe- 
cution of projects. 

III. That equipment is minimal : 

1. Which is essential for the execution of projects that are 
fairly sure to recur from year to year. 

2. Which suggests or provides means for projects whose occur- 
rence is desired. 

(In general, the rural school should at least equal a good rural 
home in the opportunities for educative activity which it affords.) 

3. Which conforms to a standard of living that is at least in 
harmony with the best standards prevalent in the community, 

(It should go without saying that the environment must safe- 
guard the physical, mental, and moral health of the pupils.) 

IV. Equipment should be provided from the regular school 
funds, unless it is demonstrably better, from the standpoint of 
educational value as well as economy of money, for the pupils to 
find it for themselves. In no case is it the function of the teacher 
to provide or raise funds for the purchase of equipment. 

V. It is recommended that each school be allowed a definite 
reasonable sum each year for the purchase of equipment for other 
desirable projects which may arise, the administration of this budget 
to be a project for the pupils under the guidance of the teacher. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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